The fight for the honours in the Animoca Brands Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix 2022 at Phillip Island looks like one for the ages between Ducati and Honda – just like the good old days.
In Qualifying at the 4.442km circuit, Ducati led the way, but it was Jorge Martin’s Pramac entry that was the fastest, just topping Marc Marquez’s Honda. Martin’s pole lap was the fastest ever seen at the iconic track, and Marquez was a mere 0.013s away from securing his first pole position since his return from injury.
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The title contenders will line up next, Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia ahead of Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).
Australian Jack Miller will start from eighth place on his works Ducati, while Remy Gardner (KTM) will start from 10 places further back.
“It’s a long race here, and we’re three-tenths off,” Miller said. “We should be able to use our experience here.”
In Moto2 it was a second career pole for 17-year-old rising star Fermin Aldeguer. His SpeedUp Boscocuro edged out Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull Ajo Kalex) by 0.073s, with the other SpeedUp rider Alonso Lopez in third – in a session red-flagged a few minutes early because of geese landing on the track...
Fernandez’s rival for the Moto2 crown Ai Ogura will start from 13th after struggling with the cooler track temperatures.
In Moto3 Qualifying, Ayumu Sasaki set the first lap in the 35s bracket when he took pole with a time of 1m35.854s on his Sterilgarda Max Husqvarna. In doing so, he broke the 2014 lap record set by Alex Marquez, who is now in MotoGP. Sergio Garcia (GasGas) will line up second alongside Ivan Ortola (KTM), Carlos Tatay (CFMoto) and Diogo Moreira (KTM).
Points leader Izan Guevara (GasGas) will started from P7, and Australian Joel Kelso will start the race 14th on the CIP Green Power KTM.
There were two National Superbike races on Saturday, with Josh Waters continuing his winning ways on the Boost Mobile Ducati. The Mildura racer won both races ahead of Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) and Bryan Staring (DesmoSport Ducati), the first by 4.534s and the second by 1.768s. Waters also trimmed 0.05s off Wayne Maxwell’s Superbike lap record set in February.
In the final races for the Oceania Junior Cup it was all looking good for Race 2 winner Ryan Larkin until he crashed with Elijah Andrew and Cameron Rende in Race 3. Bodie Paige emerged from an 11-bike pack to take the win from Sam Drane and Hudson Thompson, and Thompson and Levi Rosso tied for the honours on points over the three races. On a tie-breaker, Thompson won and will collect the Mick Doohan trophy from the man himself on Sunday.
